


Ghost hunting at Freddy's

by Eylisys



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: (most likely), Can't remember canon, Gen, mike schmidt has a son, plot holes, so to hell with it, the mcs are youtubers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21819529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eylisys/pseuds/Eylisys
Summary: Arvra, Alicia, Olivia and Josh are hobbyist ghost hunters that post their hunts on the Internet. Their latest find is the location of the fabled Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, usually thought of as an urban legend. Of course, their first instinct is to get inside and find out if some ghosts are in there.Chaos ensues.
Kudos: 5





	1. Preparing for ghost hunting

**Author's Note:**

> \- I haven't read anything concerning canon for years. I don't remember what actually happens and I'm picking what I like/remember to put it in here. I'm just having some fun.  
> \- I'm not a native english speaker. I don't mind if you're correcting my grammar, but note that I've elected not to care about the awkwardness of how I write sometimes.  
> \- If this makes no sense, it's normal. It's incredibly self-indulgent and i've also elected not to care about plot holes. it's about fun, not likelihood.

In the small and only coffee shop of Millpool Hills, a group of four young people carrying a bunch of cameras entered. By a bunch, I mean something like five, one for each and a spare one, all carried in the same bag by a red-haired girl. Josh, the only guy in the party, went up to the counter while his friends chose a small table to sit around. They were chatting eagerly, and one of them was fiddling with her camera. At the counter, the brown-skinned man asked if they were allowed to record here – he knew not all places liked that. The waitress at the counter shrugged, answering that she’d go ask the owner, but she was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind. While she was away, the man turned to his friends and waved at them playfully. A waiter was already taking their order – he hoped they’d think of getting something for him, preferably coffee. After all, it was nine in the morning, and they drove all night to arrive here, while taking turns driving and filming snippets of nonsense in the van. Said snippets were atrociously bad, but that’s what you get when a bunch of sleep-deprived 20-somethings go ghost hunting in a van and take cameras with them.

The waitress came back to the counter with the owner. He seemed to be roughly the same age as Josh and the rest of the party, but he was smaller, and looked up to ask :

\- Why would you want to film here ?

His tone wasn’t hostile, simply confused. This was a small coffee shop in a town that was in the middle of nowhere, it made no sense to film anything there. Josh gestured towards his friends while answering :

\- My friends and I enjoy filming the preparation of a ghost hunt ! You know, deciding who gets in the building first, at what time we go, all of that. We uh, have a Youtube channel. If you’re interested in ghost hunting.

\- _Ghosts_ ? In _this_ town ?

\- Yeah… Arvra, one of my friends, has done some research, and she said there’s some abandoned place nearby where she thinks we might find some ghosts. Like, in the outskirts of the town, something like that.

The owner crossed his arms, looking at the group of girls sitting at the table. It seemed like the taller one, who had pink hair, was writing something down on a notepad. The two others seemed to be chatting from where he stood, but maybe they could be dictating something to their friend. He couldn’t be certain. He then turned back to the ghost hunter.

\- Hm. So you’re here to plan your ghost hunting video… Don’t you have a hotel room ?

\- Oh, no, we have a van. I mean, we could go back there after breakfast if you’d rather not have us film here. It’s fine by us.

The owner scratched his head, looking towards the group again. His eyes crossed one of the girl’s – they were brown, but for an instant, he felt as if they were an abyss. The sensation left as soon as it had come, and he blinked, realizing she was still talking to her friends and never looked at him once. Frowning, he shrugged :

\- As long as you don’t disturb anyone, I don’t really care what you do.

He then left as Josh thanked him. The young man walked back to his friends, making a double thumbs up to signify that they could absolutely record here. The red haired-girl, who was called Alicia, took out one of the cameras from her bag and started recording, pointing it in Josh’s direction. He laughed, jokingly hiding his face, before sitting down between her and the pink haired girl. Then, Alicia turned towards the last girl, and asked :

\- So, Arvra, what’s the plan ?

Before she could answer, their waiter came back with four coffees and some croissants. He threw a weird glance at Arvra while putting down her cup – it was insanely huge for a cup of coffee – before waving at their camera, wishing them a good time and going away.

The group didn’t see the concerned look on the owner’s face, nor did they overhear a conversation he was having with an old man who looked a lot like him. They were too caught up in their fun of being reunited once again for wacky coffee-powered shenanigans, and the prospect of ghost story filled sleepless nights. While taking a bite out of a croissant, Josh said :

\- Thanks for remembering me when ordering, you guys.

Olivia, the one with pink hair, laughed, replying :

\- How could we forget the best cameraman around ?

\- He’s not holding the camera right now is how, argued Alicia. That said it’s true we couldn’t film without you, since you’re the one who bought them.

\- Yeah, your fault for breaking the first camera you brought.

Alicia pouted, offended, sending Josh and Olivia in a laughing fit. She looked at Arvra for support, but the other just grinned and said :

\- I’m not the one who throws whatever I’m holding when I’m startled.

Alicia mumbled something about everyone being against her, then smiled, contaminated by the others’ amusement. She put the camera down on the table, still recording, and after a few more minutes of joking around, Arvra asked for some quiet. After all, they were supposed to plan the following evening. Immediately, Olivia asked where they’d be going – she didn’t remember if Arvra already mentioned the name of the place or if she kept it a mystery, as she did sometimes. Alicia was quite certain that a pizzeria had been mentioned, but that was all.

As Arvra nodded at both of her friend’s statements, she cleared up that yes, she spoke of an abandoned pizzeria around and no, she didn’t mention its name. While she started this explaining, the old man from earlier came closer, but only Arvra noticed. She glanced at him for a second, but didn’t bother telling her friends someone was behind them, announcing instead :

\- Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. That’s where we’re going tonight.

\- What ? exclaimed Josh in surprise.

Several people looked at the group, vaguely wondering what could drive a young man to be startled like that, and he felt a disapproving glare from the owner on his back. He coughed, embarrassed, and said in a lower tone :

\- I’m sorry. What the _fuck_ , Arvra.

She laughed while the three others looked at each other, bewildered. Olivia added :

\- Yeah, what the hell, it’s an urban legend. It doesn’t exist.

Alicia, a little more unsure, was frowning, and said :

\- I mean. We do kind of have an urban legend on the team already...

\- Hey, interrupted Arvra, let’s not talk about my wonderful and amazingly stupid backstory yet. We’re recording and we said we’d drop the bomb at… a certain number of subscribers, right ? Anyway, Fazbear’s is real and it’s in this town.

\- And you should not go there.

The voice that spoke came from the old man, who had been listening in the whole time. His tone reminded one that could come from a concerned father, although its trembling denounced his age. He had a cane, on which he rested a hand to keep his balance, and looked gravely at the group. They were all struck by the emotion in his blue eyes : he was absolutely terrified. Josh tried to say something, but stuttered and closed his mouth.

Casually eating a croissant in one bite, Arvra asked :

\- Why ? Something wrong with the place ?

\- Everything.

The answer made the woman smirk, while Olivia asked :

\- Why – oh, wait. Sir, before I ask anything else, do you mind the camera ?

She gestured at the device sitting on the table, which was still mostly turned towards Arvra, and that Josh was preparing to turn towards the old man if he didn’t care.

\- We can blur your face if you want, added Alicia.

\- I don’t really mind, he answered. I may, however, need a chair.

Josh picked up the camera while Alicia took a chair from an unused table, and the old man sat down, smiling in thanks. Then Olivia asked :

\- Okay, so… why is _everything_ wrong with that place ? I mean, I, we heard the rumors and all, but it can’t be _that_ bad, right ?

The old man sighed deeply, before telling them that yes, it was that bad, and he would know. He then looked around, checking that no one was paying attention to the group, unknowing that they could not pay attention. Arvra had made sure that most people would simply be absorbed in their own normal lives – only the owner resisted and managed to keep watching everything unfold. He didn’t stop looking concerned.

The old man started :

\- I would know because, and not many people know that, I worked there. If you wish to stay absolutely sane, and… to not need therapy for that, you need to stay away from this place. It’s wretched, and I don’t trust _them_ to actually be out of service yet.

He visibly shivered at the mention of “them”, who or whatever they were. Josh picked it up, and repeated :

\- Them ?

\- Of course ! Who else ? They’re still there, I’m certain, lurking in the dark forever, with their crazy glowing eyes…

He seemed lost in memory, trembling. Alicia recognized that he was clearly starting to panic, and ordered Olivia to look for help while she tried to calm down the old man. The owner came to the rescue, with a soft voice and a glass of water. He asked the group to stand a little further away to leave room for the old man, and said :

\- Dad, we talked about this, you know it isn’t good for you. I know you want to protect them, but you have to be safe.

The old man nodded, taking deep breaths, and he accepted the glass of water after a little bit of time. He then patted his son’s arm, as a sign of reassurance, and declared :

\- I am feeling quite all right now, don’t worry. In fact… I think it’s the first time I can sit upright in a chair while talking about it.

He now had a slight smile on his face, and gently shooed his son away. Unconvinced, the owner started walking away, not without asking his father to at least rest after talking. He also took everyone’s coffee cups away, as they were empty, and frowned at Arvra’s. He then came back, and asked if they wanted anything else, and while most of the group asked things like orange juice or water, Arvra simply asked another unholy black coffee, not one a normal person would drink mind you, but one that was so strong it could actively hurt someone, _especially_ drank in such a large quantity.

The cold drinks arrived swiftly, and Arvra, knowing that her coffee wouldn’t come for a little bit, reported her attention to the old man.

\- I know you mean well, sir. But we’ll be fine. We have met scarier than an abandoned pizzeria.

\- I don’t doubt it – my son told me you were ghost hunters. But if you’re hoping to find something there, I can guarantee you it will only be harm.

\- Most times, intervened Josh, the only thing we find is mold. Even when there _are_ actual ghosts, we’ve never been hurt, so why would that happen now ?

The old man shook his head, sighing :

\- I really can’t talk you out of this, can I ?

The young people looked at each other, with varying degrees of worry. Arvra seemed to be the only one who was truly at ease. Alicia then simply said :

\- Sorry, sir. But we’re good at keeping ourselves alive, I promise.

The old man chugged his glass of water, and stood up, telling them one last thing :

\- At least don’t go in there at night.

He then left, wished them a good day, and went to his son to tell him the same thing. When he got out of the coffee shop, it felt as if very little time had passed, even though the clock now marked a whole ten thirty in the morning. Arvra’s horribly concentrated coffee arrived just at this moment, and she sipped it thoughtfully. Josh seemed disappointed, as he had one or two other questions to ask, but the man wasn’t there anymore to give a solid answer. They briefly discussed who “they” were, with theories ranging from ghosts roaming around (quite likely), ghosts possessing the dead animatronics of the pizzeria (even more likely), or simply dumb animatronics that somehow had battery left (very unlikely). The urban legend was quite unclear as whether the animatronics were haunted or not, but Olivia and Alicia were quite convinced they were : after all, they were programmed for entertainment, not murder. So ghost made the unanimity among Josh, Olivia and Alicia. They didn’t get Arvra’s opinion at all, she was too busy drinking her hell brew.

After that, Olivia picked up the camera, checking if it was still recording (it was), and panned it to show everyone, before asking :

\- So it’s decided, huh ? We’re going ?

\- Yeah, said Josh and Arvra in unison.

They high-fived each other after realizing they spoke at the same time.

\- All right, reacted Alicia, but at what time ?

Arvra smiled wickedly, and her mouth did seem a little wider than it should have been. To her, and to the rest of the team, the answer was blatantly obvious.

\- Tonight. We spend the day resting, and when midnight rolls up, we’re in that building.

She noticed the head of the owner perking up behind the counter – he had been listening and was clearly hesitating to come tell them something. She continued her speech anyway.

\- As always, if there’s no danger, go ham on splitting. If there’s anything sketchy, we tell everyone and we stick together. And if one of us says “run”, we run. Okay ?

Everyone nodded. This small speech was always one of their favorite parts of ghost hunting – even if they weren’t quite at the pizzeria’s door yet, it seemed to them like they were only now truly getting started.


	2. Actual ghost hunting

The group stopped their pink van in front of a run-down building that looked pretty much like a huge block of cement from the road. But from the parking lot, you could see broken down neon lights, announcing “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza” in huge, previously cheery letters. However, both F’s had now fallen down in front of the building, and with the blue paint coating the inside of the windows, the place just looked sad.

The group got out of the car, carrying three cameras with them. Josh was carrying two of them : one strapped to his chest, another in his hands. Olivia was carrying the night vision camera – the only one they had been able to afford. The regular ones would have to do with the flashlights. The only person who was not allowed to hold anything resembling a camera was Alicia, so she was their flashlight keeper. Arvra had simply decided not to carry anything, and followed the rest of the group hands in her hoodie. Josh went up to the front door, then started :

\- Okay, so, first task : find a cool place to talk about this pizzeria’s history. That or we do it right in front of the door. Then it’s ghost time.

\- Yeah, unless the ghosts come punch us first, replied Olivia.

The group laughed, someone said something about Arvra getting to punch the ghosts first, then before they were completely calmed down, Alicia took the lead and opene the door.

It was pitch black inside. They looked at each other before Alicia shone her flashlight in the room. They could see a checkered black and white floor, some chairs and tables, but not much more really. Flashlights are annoying in the sense that they only create one sweep of light forward, and you can’t see whatever’s going on at the side of the sweep – meaning that none of them were able to see the stage to their left, nor the purple curtains of the pirate cove just besides the stage. None of them heard the slight creaking of the animatronic’s heads when they turned towards the group, because they were too busy whispering to each other and examining the furniture. Even Arvra was too distracted.

\- Do you think we can sit on those chairs ? asked Olivia.

\- Nah, they’re probably too brittle for that, tentatively answered Alicia. They’ve been rotting away for like… decades.

\- Arvra, what do you think ?

Josh was inspecting the chairs more closely when he asked that, and found one of them to be surprisingly clean. It looked almost new, so he turned towards Arvra, lifting an eyebrow.

\- These four chairs near you guys are good, she said. Want to sit down now or walk around a little ?

There was some discussion : Josh wanted to find another spot to talk about all the crazy rumors around the place, but Olivia and Alicia were willing to do it right there – to them, it was probably the least terrible room for the sound. Arvra did want to walk around, but added that she’d follow the majority’s opinion, and climbed on a table to sit as she said that. After some talking, it was decided that the two girls would stay here to start shooting the history part, and that Josh and Arvra would go looking if there was anywhere better with one of the spare flashlights.

Those two went closer to the stage at first, and while it would probably be nice to shoot near the stage, what interested people would probably be the animatronics themselves and not their feet, so they had to figure out if they could shoot on the stage. Unless of course their audience had a thing for feet, but no one in the group really knew the proportion of feet lovers in their followers, nor did they really care about that, so they decided to take the safe bet and find somewhere else to shoot. Before that though, Arvra did want to go through with the whole walking on stage near the animatronics thing, and she jumped on and shone her light on Freddy’s face. She cooed, finding him incredibly cute, even with dozens of years of unuse and no maintenance. Josh, who was close but had not jumped on stage, asked her how she could withstand the horrible smell of old rot that he could smell from two meters away. He didn’t like the bear’s lifeless, unblinking eyes, either – something that was normal for this kind of robot made him straight-up uncomfortable. He suddenly had a bad feeling about the rest of the night.

Arvra on the other hand was delighted, and ignored easily the smell. It just wasn’t relevant to her right now, as she was trying really hard to not pet Freddy. Then she turned away, eager to go and look at the pirate cove, but Josh stopped her :

\- Honestly, filming this close to to these things is probably a dumb idea unless we’re just going there to wonder if there’s ghosts in the robot. We should find somewhere else.

Arvra understood his underlying worry, and they departed towards the kitchen. Its smell was similar to the animatronics’, so they guessed some food had been left to rot since the place had closed.

\- Who just abandons this much food ? groaned Josh.

\- People who know it was unfit for eating anyway, replied his friend. Pretty sure Fazbear’s wasn’t known for their kitchen’s cleanliness.

John paused, before grinning and joking :

\- ...Do you think they could’ve called Gordon Ramsay in here ?

\- Pfft, they should have. I’m sure the pizzas could have been like, actually good afterwards.

Olivia, who they had not heard coming, joined in with :

\- Yeah, but I don’t think it would have changed anything about those kids disappearing though.

She seemed genuinely bummed out, and Josh patted her on the back sympathetically.

\- Probably not.

With a hum, Arvra whispered :

\- We might get the opportunity to avenge them, however…

Her eyes were partly closed, as if she was about to fall asleep. The other two exchanged a glance, before Josh asked :

\- What, are they here ?

He kind of regretted not activating the cameras he had yet. It was always when Arvra did something interesting that he forgot to film.

\- They were here, she rectified shaking her head. They messed with a few things, and thought it was enough, I think ? I’m missing a piece or two-

An instinct made her turn towards the stage. Alicia had climbed on it as Arvra had done earlier, and walked closer to the animatronics, apparently ready to boop Freddy. As she approached her hand, everyone was able to look in horror to see Freddy suddenly move, unhinging his jaw like a snake, grabbing Alicia and…

Time stopped.

Arvra’s heartbeat was incredibly loud, her eyes suddenly became fully black, and Freddy went back to his original place. Everything started to replay backwards, following the deafening heartbeats. The group rejoined, looked at the chairs, went out walking backwards, and even their small conversation happened in reverse. They got in the van and it left the parking lot. Then, the heartbeat stopped. The building was silent, as if no one went inside in over thirty years. And then…

They stopped their pink van in front of a run-down building that looked pretty much like a huge block of cement from the road. But from the parking lot, you could see broken down neon lights, announcing “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza” in huge, previously cheery letters. However, both F’s had now fallen down in front of the building, and with the blue paint coating the inside of the windows, the place just looked sad.

The group got out of the car, looking a bit disoriented. Olivia complained of a headache while grabbing the cameras from the back of the van. Arvra was leaning on the vehicle’s side, looking carefully at everyone. All three of them looked like they just got out of some unpleasant dream. She coughed to get their attention.

\- How about we take some water and those drinks we brought, and relax on top of the van ?

Josh frowned, surprised by the proposition, but Alicia immediately understood :

\- Something happened, right ?

Her friend nodded, and climbed on the van’s roof, while Olivia passed her a pack of water. She also took a pack of beer, and some snacks just in case. Then, everyone else followed Arvra’s example and climbed up. Josh took one of the water bottles, opened it, and asked :

\- All right, what did we miss ?

Arvra quickly explained the earlier events, and rather rough and incomplete memories came back to everyone else. They didn’t need to know more, even if they weren’t particularly embarrassed with the fact that Alicia almost died – out of all of them, she was actually the one it happened to the most. Sometimes, they joked that it was Arvra’s influence, but not tonight. Right now, they were more interested in the fact that the animatronics, or at the very least Freddy, were still functional. If they had batteries, they should have been out for a while by now, and even if they were simply plugged somewhere, there hadn’t been electricity in the building since it had been abandoned. According to Olivia, it was probably impossible, which could only mean ghosts. This is when Josh recalled Arvra’s earlier words :

\- Do you think this is what the ghosts messed with before leaving ?

She shrugged, but answered by the affirmative, although she added that there was probably more than just messing with how batteries worked in these animatronics. But again, she couldn’t pinpoint what was messed with, and she told the others she probably wouldn’t be able to know unless they went back inside and messed with everything in there themselves. At that, Alicia responde :

\- There’s no way we’re going back inside tonight, I’d rather not have another one of us dying in there. Why not just leave ?

\- Ah, the question I was waiting for, smiled Arvra. Easy ! Someone was coming when we were inside. I wouldn’t want to miss them… and also I need to make sure they have no idea what happened.

Josh shrugged this possibility off, saying :

\- We can barely remember these rewinds most of the time we know you’re doing it. Why would they be different ?

As Olivia agreed with him, the other answered :

\- Heh, just a hunch.

She stretched her arms and yawned, then jumped off the roof to look for something in the back of the van, leaving her friends to determine who might be coming. It was quite obvious to them : the old man they had met at the coffee shop was probably worried about them not listening to him – that or the shop owner had heard the conversation and would come check in on them. Either of these seemed plausible to them. Arvra came back up with her personal thermos of coffee, and started drinking straight from it as the others opened up the snacks Olivia had taken earlier. As they talked and waited, the conversation strayed pretty far from the “once haunted but not really anymore” pizzeria, and Alicia was boasting about having finally finished the Dawnguard expansion of Skyrim (which she had put off for a while, even if it wasn’t that hard) while both Arvra and Olivia made fun of the game.

They didn’t have to wait for more than an hour before seeing a car pull up in the parking lot, and the coffee shop owner exiting said car, looking around him quite confused. When he saw the ghost hunters, he approached the van, looking at them with suspicion. They greeted him, offering him chips, or maybe water, or something else if he wanted. Alicia held up a beer bottle to signify what meant the something else, but her mouth was full of chips and she couldn’t exactly say anything to accompany the gesture. The guy narrowed his eyes, then asked :

\- Isn’t there something like… just coffee ? It’s the middle of the night.

\- Yeah, answered Olivia, I think we have something that’s not Arvra’s hell brew in the van. It’s probably cold though, let me check.

She jumped off the roof, and the rest of the group eventually followed, taking both food and drink inside the van – it was less chilly in there anyway.

\- You can come in, said Josh, we have blankets and everything.

Clearly thinking that it was a bad idea, the coffee shop owner followed them inside anyway, only to find that Olivia was foraging in cupboards to try and find something that looked like regular coffee. She eventually gave up, admitting that Arvra’s horrible thing was probably the only thing resembling coffee for now, but as they did own a coffee machine she could brew some. The guy distractedly nodded, looking at everyone just settling down where they could. Alicia was sitting on a passenger seat, with headphones on her head and probably drifting off to sleep. Josh was apparently taking notes on something and Arvra was just standing there, doing seemingly nothing.

He got startled when Olivia handed him his cup not even a minute after she started brewing the coffee, but thanked her and sat down on the ground. She winked, before sitting down herself and beckoning Arvra to do the same. As she finally seemed to snap out of something and imitated her friend, her eyes met the shop owner’s, and he could have swore they weren’t the same color as they had been in the morning. They had been brown, he was sure of it, and now they had this… strange, green-ish hue added to it. He frowned, and shook his head before sipping his coffee, realizing that it wasn’t supposed to have been ready in mere seconds, but his night was already so goddamn weird.

He sighed, getting ready to ask questions he probably didn’t want the answers to. He could feel a headache coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I didn't wait a whole year to update it. Incredible ! ...it was just a few months short of being a whole year.  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm writing chapter 3 right now so with luck it will come out in less than 10 months from now ?  
> I'm having fun writing these guys lmao


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i absolutely did NOT forget to post this chapter that I have finished writing in October.

The coffee shop owner looked around at everyone – Olivia and Josh whispering about something he couldn’t hear, Alicia at the other side of the van drifting off while listening to music, and Arvra sitting right in front of him, her strange brown but oddly green-ish eyes staring at him. He wasn’t even sure whether or not she had blinked once.

What annoyed him most is that they were still random unnamed customers to him, so he began talking :

\- I have… some questions about whatever’s going on here, but would you all mind if I asked you your names ? I have literally no idea who you are.

Olivia and Josh nodded, presenting themselves and Alicia who hadn’t heard a thing. Arvra asked him to tell his name before she’d tell hers, and looked delighted to hear the name Liam. Although she did look delighted in general.

Liam took another sip of coffee before asking a general :

\- You all went in there, didn’t you ?

Olivia, while grabbing the bag of chips that Alicia had abandoned, denied :

\- I have no idea what you’re talking about.

\- Don’t take me for an idiot. I entered this goddamned building and saw a fucking robot bear maul your friend over there, then I was back on the road and driving my car as if literally nothing happened, and I’m here with the worst headache I’ve had in literal years.

The two humans sitting with him exchanged a surprised look, while Arvra’s smile widened. A bit too much. But that did not deter Liam from asking again what was going on in here. The only one who did not react to Liam’s vehement questioning was Alicia, but in her defense she had already fallen asleep.

The laugh coming from Arvra surprised everyone, and she poked Josh, saying :

\- I told you ! Some humans remember weird shit like that.

She was thoroughly amused, but Josh, curious, asked :

\- How ?

\- Do I look like the kind of person that studies these kinds of phenomenons ? Dude, I’m the one who provokes them.

Olivia shook her head as a sign of defeat, while Liam was getting more and more confused by the second. The pink-haired girl announced that she was going to follow Alicia’s example and get some rest, she didn’t want to hear an explanation she had heard twice already. Josh and Arvra wished her a good night, while Liam looked like he could have question marks popping up around his head.

Arvra took a sip of her thermos, which she had already drank the half of, and turned towards Liam, asking amusedly :

\- Okay. So, what do you think happened ?

He looked at her with the most angry, tired face he could muster, before saying :

\- Obviously I wouldn’t be asking you what is going on if I knew what is going on. I just- I don’t have the slightest idea.

\- You’re lying, laughed Arvra. You have an idea, but you won’t say it because if you do, it becomes real.

He lifted an eyebrow, not completely convinced and quite annoyed by the teasing tone. He took a sip of his own coffee, waiting for her to keep talking. Even Josh was looking at his friend expectantly. As she was not saying anything else, Liam shook his head, and said :

\- All right, maybe I should ask something else. As in, what was that thing about hearing an explanation twice already ?

Arvra’s smile widened again – it really started to look unnatural now, and Liam was visibly uncomfortable. Josh patted him on the shoulder, but as Arvra did not seem to be in the mood for talking yet, he said :

\- Basically, not every one of us was here when Arvra arrived. So she had to explain to each one of us separately what was going on. So here, Alicia heard the explanation three times, Olivia twice, and me, once. But that’s going to be twice in a few minutes, probably.

Before Liam could ask what in the hell she was explaining over and over again, Arvra finally said something :

\- I love explaining, it’s always fun seeing people’s emotion as they’re processing the bullshit. True bullshit, sure, but still bullshit.

Her smile was getting toothy now, and Liam just started looking away. He hated everything about this night and he felt like his headache wouldn’t go away for a while. He repeated, slowly :

\- The bullshit.

\- Yep. So. Wanna hear what actually happened, huh ?

Liam nodded, fearing whatever would come next.

\- We went in there, declared Arvra, Alicia died, and to make it simple I just decided that it never happened and we hadn’t arrived yet.

The guy almost spit his coffee – this made no sense. Josh stayed silent but was visibly amused, and Arvra openly laughed at his reaction. Liam took a second to check if he hadn’t actually spilled coffee anywhere, before taking a deep breath, and declaring :

\- That’s not how this works.

He stared at both Josh and Arvra, and at Josh again, then said vehemently :

\- Please help me on that one, that’s not how it works !

Josh shook his head, and helpfully tried :

\- The thing she’s not telling you is that she’s not exactly human. Just… imagine The Thing, but more interested in fucking around with people than replacing the Earth’s entire population, and with magic.

It wasn’t very hard to picture, but Liam was having none of it. First of all, that didn’t make any sense, and whatever Arvra might have done seemed more like something out of a fantasy book than anything even remotely sci-fi, which meant that Josh was clearly making fun of him. Arvra laughed at this refutation, and added that while she wasn’t really like The Thing, thinking eldritch horror wasn’t too far off. According to her, the only thing she had in common with that was the shape-shifting anyway. She started going on about how her true form wasn’t very corporeal – but she did admit that it would probably be gross for a human. Depending on what they liked, obviously, but what she mostly meant was that it wasn’t made of any flesh if that helped.

Liam asked her to just stop talking. He then took a deep breath, looking alternatively at Josh and her. Josh had a sympathetic smile on his face – he too couldn’t believe that at first. Then, the coffee shop guy just groaned, put down his empty cup of coffee and buried his face in his hands.

Rewinding time, changing eye color, magical instant coffee. Things that were supposedly impossible and apparently happened today- tonight. Then, remembering stories he heard as a child, about whatever was in that abandoned pizzeria, and the fact that he was sitting with people who hunted ghosts as a hobby, and who apparently, somehow, befriended a whole eldritch horror. Because apparently that was a thing now. He got up to serve himself more coffee – the pot stayed mysteriously hot during that whole conversation – and when he sat back down, he stared at Arvra and went :

\- Let me guess, if all of this is real, my headache is coming from that… time rewinding you did.

Arvra nodded, visibly pleased that it had taken him just a small breakdown before believing her. Some people took way longer – but that was off-topic.

\- Do you guys still want to get in there after that ?

He seemed genuinely concerned for them, and Josh hesitated before answering.

\- Tomorrow maybe. I have a feeling Arvra wants to further investigate the place.

\- Yep ! I won’t force anyone to come with me, though. Even if I think Olivia’s help could be invaluable.

Liam asked for precisions, but she would not elaborate, simply stating now that he and Josh should probably sleep now, whether or not they wanted to explore the building in the morning. Still, the coffee shop owner had so many more questions to ask – where did Arvra come from, was that her real name, how did she meet the ghost hunters, and were ghosts even real for all it mattered ? But, for now, she would answer none of them, only saying that if he wanted to find out more he’d have to stick around. And if he did, maybe he could help with the shooting, because even if they did bring a lot of cameras with them last time, no one really had enough arms to use all of them at once. Unless she’d decide to grow some, but that was besides the point. Liam shrugged, informing her that he still had a job, and that if he wanted to join them he would have to warn his staff first, which he usually didn’t do last minute. Arvra tilted her head, and asked :

\- How long have these people been employed ?

\- What does this have to do with anything ?

She shrugged.

\- Can’t they handle themselves ?

\- That’s not the point though. Doing that kind of stuff at the last minute throws any organization away and only puts stress on other people. Which is why I only do last minutes “can’t be here !” when I’m sick. Because you can’t plan that. Just going “hey staff, I know it’s literally midnight, but I can’t be here tomorrow because I’m fucking off with some ghost hunters, have fun bye” is both very unprofessional and down right shitty.

\- He’s right, seconded Josh. _We_ tend to plan stuff in advance, so it wouldn’t be fair to ask Liam not to do the same for a bunch of strangers.

Arvra rolled her eyes, saying that she was just trying to encourage him to have some fun, then joined Olivia and Alicia at the other side of the van to get some rest. As she left, Liam looked around, still kind of lost (did she really need sleep or was it because staying awake when everyone else slept was annoying ?). It took him a bit before he asked Josh :

\- How many people can usually sleep in this van ?

\- Between five and seven, depending on whether you’re sleeping in the car seats or with inflatable mattresses. And depending on how many of these you have on hand of course. I can set one up for you if you want.

The coffee shop owner shrugged.

\- No, don’t worry about it, I was just curious. I’ll sleep in my car and… try not to think about all of this too much.

As he said this, he downed the rest of his coffee cup. Josh laughed, and as the other left, he closed the van. When he was preparing to follow the girls’ examples and go to bed, he heard an engine start, and then the noise of a car leaving.

Liam probably wouldn’t accompany them the next day.


End file.
